The document summarizes the launch of a VCSE Health & Social Care Assembly for Norfolk and Waveney. It outlines the assembly's goals of strengthening partnership between health, social care, and the voluntary sector to improve services for vulnerable communities. Next steps discussed include appointing an assembly chair, developing governance structures, and finalizing a memorandum of understanding and commissioning strategy to formalize the partnership.

1. VCSE Health & Social Care Assembly Launch
With the VCSE Health & Social Care Assembly Steering Group
Session overview
12.30 Welcome and introduction
12.40 Assembly overview – what it is, how it will work, benefits and
emerging priorities
13.00 Your role in the Assembly - next steps in engagement and
work plans
13.15 Breakout session – shaping the plan
13.45 Comfort break
13.50 Update on the MOU/ Shared Ambition Initiative
14.10 Summary and next steps
14.15 Close

2. Welcome and introduction
Tony Osmanski, Chair, East Coast Community Healthcare CIC and
VCSE Assembly Steering Group Chair

3. • Welcome! We are delighted to be launching an Assembly for Norfolk and Waveney
today as part of the VCSE’s ‘Working Together’ annual Conference
• Since our last engagement at the end of last year much has changed and challenged
us! Yet COVID has underlined both the critical value of the VCSE and of working
together in partnership with our health and care partners for the health and
wellbeing of particularly our most vulnerable communities
• Today we will outline progress in the development of a VCSE Assembly and our
future plans – we will share with you recent developments, and what can be shaped,
by us, together
• Whilst there have been some positive developments in how we work together across
sectors, I think we would all recognise that there are some real challenges ahead; we
need to find a way to work smarter and work more collaboratively, as a system, and
an Assembly aims to provide a space to do that.
3
Welcome and introduction

4. What a year!
• When we engaged at the end of last year there was strong support for a VCSE Assembly.
• We asked ‘Do you agree with the setup of an Assembly?’, ‘how could we collaborate
more?’, ‘is an MoU useful to underpin how we work together and what may it consist
of?’
Over 100 representatives said…:
- “We need an Assembly” to foster inclusion, representation, learning and sharing
- “VCSE needs an equal voice” ‘at the table’
- “We need an underpinning MoU focusing on aspects such as data sharing and
resourcing”
- “We need a shared approach to discussing shared priorities and particularly our
approach to commissioning and outcome delivery…”
There was also too a call for the Assembly to operate virtually – how right we were!
4
This last year…the lead up to today

5. VCSE Assembly Overview
What is it, how will it work, benefits and our
emerging priorities
Alan Hopley, CEO, Voluntary Norfolk
Chris Abrahams, CEO, Community Action Suffolk

6. A rich and diverse VCSE ‘Ecosystem’…
Our Norfolk and Waveney
VCSE ‘ecosystem’ is
connected by national,
place based, thematic and
neighbourhood organisations.
The challenge is how we build
connectivity, within the
system, especially at place
level, and build VCSE capacity
to enable this.
The Assembly construct, along
with the emerging ICS
architecture will be a
mechanism to further embed
our connections across at all
levels.

7. • We use the term ‘Assembly’ to frame our discussions around a model of how we
work together between NHS, County Council, and VCSE to strengthen our
partnership for health and wellbeing of local communities – whilst elements of the
model have been determined, much is still in development
• It will be open to all voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) groups and
organisations, large or small, that are delivering health, care and wellbeing services
and operating across Norfolk and Waveney
• Its purpose will be to:
• Strengthen partnership working and further shared priorities, including a
greater focus on prevention and support to the most vulnerable
• Increase the influence and participation of VCSE organisations within health
and social care and in the design and delivery of health and wellbeing services
in Norfolk and Waveney
So what do we mean by an Assembly?

8. Joint health and social
care framework for
VCSE commissioning
Learning and
reflections on
the impact of
covid
Coproduced
MoU
Framework
Emerging Assembly priorities…
• About how we respond to COVID - Learning and
reflections on the impact of COVID – to understand how
COVID has impacted on our sectors and communities to
inform the next phase in shared response
• About how we work together
• Assembly form and engagement, recognising need
for evolution
• Co-produced MoU framework - to underpin
effective & collaborative working, focusing on 5 core
MOU areas of most transformational impact.
• About how we engage on strategy - Developing a joint,
integrated health and care strategy for VCSE
commissioning - focusing on a partnership approach
between the sectors
Meaningful and effective
partnership between
health, social care and
VCSE

9. What are the benefits?
Co-ordinated
focus on
prevention and
reducing health
inequalities
Building on
what works
well already
Foster
collaboration
to improve
standards and
innovation
An equal
partner within
the Integrated
Care System
(ICS)
Drive
investment in
VCSE
organisations
and local
communities
Representation
of different
perspectives and
voices
VCSE
representation
on
decision-making
Boards
A mechanism for
two-way
communications
Better
reflection of
locality
needs

10. • A Chair with a position on the ICS Partnership Board, appointed and
accountable to the VCSE Assembly
• Underpinning governance - a leadership forum or board structure,
representative of the sector – recognising that this will evolve
• Thematic and locality working groups, aligned to ICS work streams and
building on, not duplicating, existing forums and structures
• Communication and engagement mechanisms e.g. digital/ online platforms,
to enable wider/ more inclusive engagement and effective two way
feedback to and from communities
• An underpinning Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that sets out the
high level partnership principles and expectations
• Sign up/ registration of interested parties
Key features of the Assembly

11. Inclusivity and broadest
possible reach, supported
by wide engagement
mechanisms
Views feed into
Representative Forum/
Board to underpin
common agreement
The Forum/ Board oversee
setting of priorities and
are accountable to the full
Assembly
The full Assembly of all
members annually sign off
priorities
How will it work?

12. Your role in the Assembly
Next steps in engagement and work plan
Lucy Hogg, Head of Voluntary Sector Infrastructure,
Voluntary Norfolk and VCSE Assembly Project Manager

13. • Chair appointment - we are working with the STP Governance lead to ensure
a fair and transparent recruitment process
• We’re consulting with on the key skills, attributes and talents needed for the
Chair role, and will have an opportunity today to further that discussion
• We need to think about the supportive infrastructure we put in place to
support the Chair, initially this can be provided by the Steering Group, but it
needs to evolve to enable a broader leadership alliance or forum approach; a
Board structure may follow with time.
• The developing Assembly form will be dependent on wider infrastructure,
such as, the Sector Leadership Group, the engagement forum in STP, and the
STP/ICS Chair guidance and this will take some time to work out.
What’s next?

14. Overall duties and responsibilities:
• Actively participate as a member of the ICS Partnership Board to represent
the VCSE sector
• Act as a spokesperson for the VCSE Assembly by effectively and inclusively
hearing the voice of the sector, from grass roots/mutual aid groups to large
national charities within the STP/ICS.
• Drive forward a VCSE Assembly work programme linked to the emerging
MoU, between the VCSE and Health and Social Care, in support of the
ambitions in the NHS Long Term Plan.
• Support the sustainability and effectiveness of the VCSE Assembly, by leading
on the case for support or change and the alignment of resources.
What will the Chair do?

15. Next steps in our journey of development
Milestone 2
Q3/4 Assembly Chair
identification phase
Milestone 3
Q4 – Jan - Mar21
ICS/VCSE connection
via shadow
Partnership Board
Milestone 5
Feb/Mar 21
Engagement on first
phase constitution/
terms of reference
Milestone 4
Jan/Feb 21
Assembly work plan
for this next stage
Milestone 6
Apr 21
MoU spec & Assembly
work plan first phase
Milestone 1
Nov 2020
VCSE Conference and
Assembly launch
Ongoing strategic engagement and communication activity
• The first phase (in context of COVID and winter pressures)

16. Breakout session:
Shaping the shared work plan and engagement
Lucy Hogg, Head of Voluntary Sector Infrastructure,
Voluntary Norfolk and VCSE Assembly Project Manager

17. Recognising the impacts of COVID, the acceleration of digital
strategies and the benefits that closer partnership working
could bring, what do you need to be in place to enable you to
engage and participate in the assembly?
Consider your expectations of the Chair
The role of existing forums and representative structures
Use of technology and digital tools
How we ensure inclusivity and diversity of VCSE voice
Shaping the shared work plan and engagement

18. • 5 MINUTE Comfort Break!
• Please stay logged in, mute and keep cameras turned off

19. A Memorandum of Understanding: Update on the
Shared Ambition initiative
Jon Clemo, CEO, Community Action Norfolk

20. VCSE commissioning strategy
• Health and Social Care commissioners will work
collaboratively with the VCSE sector and other
partners to lead the development of a joint strategy
for VCSE commissioning.
It will aim to:
• support a strong market of VCSE providers
• market development alongside VCSE infrastructure
organisations
• high quality outcomes for our population.
• seek to align with the sectors own aims
• be partnership-driven with VCSE involvement
throughout the whole commissioning cycle
• deliver contracting arrangements that support
outcomes delivery and are tailored to the needs of
the sector
• support development of an ICS together
Shared Ambition Initiative
(MOU)
• The goal is to create a set of clear agreements with
practical impact in key areas of mutual interest.
• A Norfolk version of the Manchester MOU informed
by our Covid-19 ways of working
• Initial ‘specification’ development to take place up to
31st March
• Focus on
• Understanding different perspectives
• Drilling down into details of the ‘asks’
• Joint prioritisation and agreement to take forward
• On-going iterative process
• Framework for developing work programmes and
monitoring progress

21. MoU - Shared Ambition Areas
• Equal partnership: Support for the development of a culture, behaviours and processes that is
consistent with whole system working and recognises the VCSE sector as an equal partner within our
health and social care system.
• Sustainable resources model: A model of resourcing that ensures VCSE services that
support the system’s effectiveness are resourced in a sustainable, effective and efficient way. A
commitment that delivery models understand the externalities they create and recognise the resource
transfers necessary to compensate for these.
• Digital integration: An approach to digital integration that is inclusive of VCSE organisations
and seeks to enable the best use of digital tools across the system as a whole with a focus on enabling
integrated working for our teams.
• Data sharing: The commitment to share operational and intelligence data appropriately and
effectively, within information governance protocols, across the sector and organisational boundaries.
The creation of the governance and technical capability to achieve this.
• Consistent evidence and evaluation: The identification of a consistent set of evaluation
and evidence tools recognised by both sectors, and used across organisations consistently to provide
reduced reporting demands, support comparable results and enable stronger evidence led delivery.

22. Aligning activity
• Shared ambition initiative through previous engagement has
identified 6 priority areas to work on
• One of these is around resourcing and commissioning is a key part of
that. Commissioning also touches other key areas such as data
sharing and evaluation.
• Adult social care and Norfolk and Waveney CCG have committed to
developing a VCSE commissioning strategy
• The Shared Ambition Initiative and VCSE commissioning strategy will
closely link

23. MoU - Shared Ambition Areas
• Equal partnership
• Sustainable resources model
• Digital integration
• Data sharing
• Consistent evidence and evaluation
• What are your key asks?
• Be really specific
• “As a {user/audience} I need/want
{feature} so that {reason}”
• As a provider I want five-year contracts
so that I can deliver stable services and
invest in quality, innovation and
workforce

24. Summary and Next Steps
Tony Osmanski, Chair, East Coast Community Healthcare CIC and
VCSE Assembly Steering Group Chair

25. Summary
✅Collaboration - between NHS, Local Government and VCSE
✅Community - bring together the sector that is most representative of our local communities, and
shape our response to most vulnerable
✅Continuity – long term commissioning
✅Chair - needs to be a strong voice for the whole VCSE sector
✅Communication - strategy required
✅Co-production – we need to work together
✅Content - engagement with VCSE needs to be meaningful
✅Complexity - need to simplify systems and processes
✅Commissioning - strategy to be developed
✅Capability - recognition that we have a range of skills across the sector
✅Capacity - the sector is under significant pressure so we need to work smartly

26. • Thank you for joining us today and sharing your
views with us, this is an ambitious project, and
this is just the start …
• We have always been clear that the Assembly
must be co-designed by the VCSE and ICS
partners, please do get involved.
• Look out for updates on the Chair appointment
process via sector e-newsletters and our new
Assembly website launching soon
www.vcseassemblynandw.org.uk
Next Steps